


The Raven

by hangstzo



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Gen, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Implied/Referenced Suicide, i missed my baby boy so i wrote this, like really vaguely referenced, none of them are left, the raven queen is the god of death like, this takes place CENTURIES after vox machina, weird format, weird writing style but i like it, which makes me sad but i wrote this anyway
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-12
Updated: 2018-01-12
Packaged: 2019-03-04 00:22:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13352577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hangstzo/pseuds/hangstzo
Summary: Even gods fall eventually. Not even the goddess of death can outrun the end.A (very) short story about the Raven Queen's replacement.





	The Raven

Even gods fall eventually.

Not even the goddess of death can outrun the end. When it is the Raven Queen’s turn, she goes out in a burst of red and black, her porcelain mask

_shattering_

and then, she is

 _gone_.

A man rises in her place, his name all but

_lost_

to time if it wasn’t for the few legends told around the fire. He appears to his paladins and clerics with long dark hair and an obscured face. From his back sprout a pair of huge black wings, earning him the name of

_the Raven._

He is much softer than his mistress, more likely to take pity on those in the most _desperate_ of times. He also comes to his followers in times of need and prayer more often than his predecessor, offering them simple advice for their situation.

The Raven finds a strong following in anyone doubting their place in the universe. He is kind to them, coming in dreams to show them that their thread of life is not quite finished yet. And to those who try to take fate into their own hands, who try to

_cut_

_their_

_thread themselves,_

he appears in that brief moment between life and death that was always granted to his predecessor, tasked with guiding their souls over to whatever comes next. But sometimes he refuses to do so, telling them that this is not the death he has seen for them, that there is so much more to their thread than they think. These saved souls owe their lives to the Raven and many go on to become clerics, trying to save others who were once as lost as they were. They tell the stories of their saviour and his sympathy for them in their darkest times.

Slowly, over _many_ decades, the fear and mistrust once associated with the Raven Queen begins to dissipate as stories spread about her replacement and his kindness.

After a few years of the Raven’s existence, an ancient shrine to his mistress is uncovered in the city of Whitestone. One of the young children of the ruling family stumbled upon this crypt in the cemetery after apparently following a _raven_. The city has always had legends about the hundreds of dark birds that live around them, dating back centuries but no one really remembers where they came from. But after the discovery of this shrine, one of the older children of the ruling family begins to spend some time there. She claims to have seen a young man, with slightly

pointed ears and

kind eyes,

who spoke as if he knew her. He was gentle and treated her as if she was _family_ while he sat with her, telling her about the shrine and the work of the Raven.

It is not a surprise to _anyone_ that this girl goes on to become one of the Raven’s fiercest and most loyal paladins, eventually being chosen as his Champion. With her help, the long forgotten shrine in Whitestone is transformed into the first new temple to the Raven. Visitors, be they worshippers or just curious, are often surprised by the welcoming sense of the building, so different from the reverence found in others.

A few people ask about the faint scent of _lavender_ emanating around the room but are met with blank, confused looks.

Even fewer, often children or descendants of the original de Rolo family, see a half elf man in the temple. He just sits and watches everyone with a neutral expression, but sometimes there is a

_mischievous_

smile on his lips

and a _softness_

to his eyes.

Occasionally, he makes eye contact with those who see him, grins widely at them, but then just

_~~walks away.~~ _

Or rather, he seems to walk away. They never see him leave, one second he is there and the next he is gone,

a single

_snowdrop_

left behind.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a weird writing style and a new format but I'm playing around with things so let me live. Anyway...  
> I! LOVE! VAX!  
> I love to think that my darling boy takes over from the Raven Queen many many many many many years after all of Vox Machina are gone. And that boy wears his goddamn heart on his sleeve, he would be so much kinder than she was. Also I feel like he would do his absolute best to help. Dammit I love Critical Role and I'm gonna miss Vox Machina and my dearest Vax.  
> My first Critical Role fic btw guys but this will almost definitely not be the last.  
> You can find me screeching about Critical Role and making terrible shitposts about it [on tumblr](http://picturefirelizards.tumblr.com/)! (Currently not spoiler free but it is all tagged!)


End file.
